The Dublin conference was full of tech entrepreneurs. People with no formal power who want to build exciting products and who are changing the world through technology — from the bottom up. Some of the changes these founders have caused are tiny; some have changed the world — like YouTube and Twitter. Most of the companies are a few years old and founded on a slender budget.

The London summit will be full of people with huge amounts power — speakers include Ms. Neelie Kroes, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Digital Agenda, Mr. Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the U.K., and Microsoft CEO Mr. Steve Ballmer — who also want to change the world, but they want to do it from the top down. The changes they seek are enormous — revolutionising health care, liberating the European digital market, rebuilding Europe after the financial crisis — but they are huge programmes that will take years and cost millions.

About Tech Europe

Tech Europe covers Europe’s technology leaders, their companies, and the people and industries that support them — and their ideas. The blog is edited by Ben Rooney, with contributions from The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.